Anti-freezing device for water-pipes



(No Model.) D. McDONALD.

ANTI FREEZING DEVICE FOR WATER PIPES. No. 369,199. Patented Aug. 30, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DONALD MCDONALD, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

ANTI-FREEZING DEVICE FOR WATER-PIPES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,199, dated August 30, 1887.

Application filed April 2, 1887. Serial No. 233,452. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DONALD MCDONALD, of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Preventing Water from Freezing in Pipes or other Vessels, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which show it as applied to the hot and cold service pipes of a dwellinghouse, in which drawings similar letters and references indicate like parts.

This device is an improvement on the temperature-alarm on which an application for Patent No. 186,863 wasallowed me December 8, 1886.

Figure 1 is a section of the device on the line A B, Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a plan or top view.

A is a cylindrical vessel, closed at the top by means of a cap, Q, and connected through the boss P and the pipe R with the thermometer S.

B is a weight floating in the water contained in A, the water coming as high as the lineee.

G is a second pipe standing beside A, and screwed into the same base, E, and connected with A at the bottom.

D is a boss or cylinder cast on the base E.

E is a base, and made to hold the pieces A D O and allow full communication between them at the bottom.

F and F are two stop-cocks, by means of which small pipes leading from the hot and cold water service of the house can be connected to the machine and the amount of water wasted through them regulated.

G is a cap, which rests on these stop-cocks and holds them down to the cylinder D by meansof two screw-studs, H and H.

I and I are two valves resting on seats turned in the cylinder D, and so arranged that when they are closed no water can flow through the two stop-cocks F and F. These valves have under them a lever, b.

J J are two bosses cast on the base. E, so that it can be screwed to the wall by means of the two screws 2 and 2.

K is a small pipe inside of the pipe 0, hav- 5 ing two holes in it at L and two more at W.

M is a small tube connecting with the boss P and leading down to the bot'om of the pipe K.

N is a larger pipe, which surrounds the pipe K and is brazed to it between the holes L and IV.

O isa waste-pipe connecting withthe short pipe N, and leading to the sewer or waste pipe plaster or otherwise) air-tight into the top of the tube T, and projecting downward to a point about two inches from the bottom of the tube T.

V is a band with holes for screws, by means of which thermometer S may be fastened to the wall.

a is a regulator or small disk working into screw-threads cut on the pipe M, and having a hole at d, Fig. 2, by means of which it can be screwed up or down from above.

b is a lever working on a pin fastened to the base E, and having one end under the valves I and I, the other end under the float B. The top part of the tube S is filled with alcohol, and the bottom part is filled up to the line a cwith mercury. The mercury also rises up into the tube Tsay to the line d cl. The height of the mercury in the tube T will depend on the temperature and consequent expansion and contraction of the alcohol in S.

The operation of the device is as follows: As long as the mercury in the tube T stands above the bottom of the tube U no air can flow into the cylinder A through the pipes U and R. Vater in A will then stand as high as the line 6 e, and the float B will not bear upon the lever b. The valves I. I will therefore remain closed and no water flow in through the stop-cocks F and F. Air is at the same time prevented from flowing in through the pipe M by means of the water which is caught in the bottom part of the pipe K. When the'alcohol in S is contracted by the cold, the mercury in the tube T will fall be low the bottom of the tube U. Air will then flow in through the tube U, up through the tube T, out through the pipe B, into the cylinder A. The water in A will rise immediately in the pipe and flow out through the pipe K, both at the holes L and over the top of K, under the regulator a. The float B will immediately bring its weight to bear upon the lever Z). This will raise the valves I I and cause the water to flow through the stop-cocks F F, and thus prevent freezing in the pipes to which F F are connected. The water flowing out through K will issue again through the holes \V \V into the pipes N, thence out through the waste-pipe 0 into the sewer. The flow Xthrough the pipe 0 causes a suction which acts through the pipe M on the water in thecylinder A, the intensity of this suction being controlled by raising or lowering the regulator a. As long as the mercury is low enough in the tube T to allow air to enter freely through the pipes U and R this suction will not raise the water in A; but as soon as the temperature rises and the mercury rises high enough to close the tube U and shut out the air this suction will raise the water in A to about the height of the line e c. This will cause the float B to rise again and the valves I and I to fall, thus shutting off the water and stopping the waste.

That it may he better understood how the above-described suction takes place, I would state that the lower holes, \V, are much larger than the holes L, and the water escaping at \V into pipe 0 creates a suction or pull which is not satisfied by the water entering at L and under the regulator a, and the result is a partial vacuum is formed in pipe K, and the partial "acuum is supplied by drawing air out of the top of chamber A and down through pipe M, which air rises in bubbles from the trapped end of pipe M, and thus a partial vacuum is produced in the top of chamber A, that raises the level of the water in A and lifts the weight B to allow the valves to close, as before described.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new is 1. The combination of stationary case A, the attached hollow base E, with one or more valves connecting with the water-pipes, and lever Z), the floating weight B, arranged within case A to act on lever b, and an air-pipe connecting with the topof case A, and means, substantially as described, for automatically admitting air therethrough by a fall of temperature, as described.

2. The hollow base E, having boss D, with valve-seats and valves I, the cooks F, the headplate G, and bolts II II, for clamping the cocks between the boss and the head-plate, in comnation with the lever 1), case A, and weight B, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the water (liseharging apparatus, of the thermometer S, consisting of the outer ease closed at its upper end, the tube T, arranged in this case and closed at its upper end, but opening into the case at the bottom, the air-tube U, opening into the air above and into the tube T below,

the pipe 11, opening into the upper end of 7c tube '1, a seal of mercury in the bottom of the outer ease and rising to the lower end of tube U, and a body of alcohol disposedin the outer ease above the mereu ry and filling the said ease, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination of the case A, having air-pipes M and It opening into the top of the same, and floating weight B, the subjaeent base E, with valves I and lever b, the apparatus S, for automatically admitting air, the tube G, communicating with the base E, pipe K, with holes L \V, and a closed bottom sealing the lower end of pipe M, the regulating-disk a, and the pipe N, surrounding pipe K and communicating with the outlet or discharge, substantially as shown and described.

DONALD MCDONALD. \Vitnesses:

M. L. lVILsoN, FRED P. WEBER. 

